Le combat mortel de Shaolin

The storyline is somewhat historical, the action is impactful, what more could you ask for?

The second instalment of Shaw's 'Pai Mei' trilogy and after the mildly disappointing original this is on par with the last one. We rush through the familiar story of the burning of the Shaolin Temple and David Chiang's monk hero recruiting new disciples, and the story is typically packed with action of a gorier variety. The bad guys dominate the proceedings here, not just Lo Lieh's magnificent villain but Chiang Tao's Lama and Chan Shen's "downcast" henchman too. A great ensemble cast and plentiful action - what's not to love here?

The movie Shaolin Abbot aka A Slice of Death, has proved a point in many ways. Here you have this monk who goes to this other temple, practice his feats of strength, learns inner strength in that temple. Especially, when he uses that palm strike to cause the other vases to explode on impact. At the temple, there is a man name Pai Mei, a supporter of the Manchus who has help from another monk to take out the Shaolin monks. After the Chaplin Temple massacre, he flees south to go rebuild the temple. He gained some new students to help him out, and take out Pai Mei and his followers. One of them is a nephew, one is a butcher, the other a knife sharpener, a female fighter who is out to avenge her teacher, and a merchant. The fighting styles were great the choreography was well put. Each one did exactly superb. The weapons were fantastic. Couldn't be any better. It was very helpful to know what fighting skills being used to take out the enemy, and sticking to the original skills would just result in disaster. I enjoyed this movie very well, I did see this film once or twice. Just seeing it again brings back memories. 2.5 out of 5 stars.

"Shaolin Abbot" (aka "A Slice of Death") is a lightweight but fun chop-socky outing obviously made in response to the box office success of Liu Chia-liang's "Executioners of Shaolin" and "The Thirty-Sixth Chamber of Shaolin" ("The Master Killer"). It's not a remake but rather a synthesis; screenwriter Ni Kuang and director Ho Meng-hua combine elements of both films to create a story which seems to take place in some alternate reality, since Abbot Chi San did not survive the destruction of the temple in "Executioners of Shaolin." Here the abbot is alive and well, played by Shaw Brothers veteran David Chiang, and he gathers a small band of followers (including Lily Li and Norman Chu) to help him oppose white-haired supervillain Pak Mei, once again portrayed by Lo Lieh. Pak Mei has his own array of henchmen, including Chiang Tao as a Tibetan holy man who wields a mean monk's staff.

Tang Te-hsiang's fight choreography is solid, and the role of a revered Buddhist monk is an interesting change of pace for Chiang. There's nothing here you haven't seen before, but "Shaolin Abbot" is an entertaining film that doesn't try to overstep its modest bounds. Six and a half stars.

A SLICE OF DEATH / ABBOT OF SHAOLIN (1979) is another Shaw Bros. kung fu film with a Shaolin Temple theme. David Chiang stars as the monk Chi San, who survives the burning of Shaolin Temple and travels south to Kwangtung to raise money to re-build the temple as forces loyal to the Ching Emperor follow in close pursuit. He meets a merchant in Kwangtung who becomes his patron and he develops a group of followers, including Hung Si Kwan, a familiar character from Shaolin lore. There are lots of good fight scenes and a well-written script with interesting encounters between the varied characters.

David Chiang excelled as a star of many kung fu films in the 1970s, but I don't believe I've ever seen him as he is here--as a Shaolin monk with a shaved head--and it's quite a refreshing change of pace for him. Also in the cast are Lo Lieh, a frequent villain in these films; Lily Li, one of the better kung fu divas of the 1970s; and Norman Chu (Tsui Siu Keung), who plays one of the monk's students. Over all, this is a solid historical kung fu film, which compares favorably with earlier Shaw Bros. Shaolin films, such as HEROES TWO, FIVE MASTERS OF DEATH and MEN FROM THE MONASTERY, although it remains outclassed by the epic scope, big budgets and large casts of SHAOLIN MARTIAL ARTS, 1974 (listed on IMDb as Shao Lin Martial Arts) and SHAOLIN TEMPLE / DEATH CHAMBER (1976).